Silver Lining
by XXXaaaXXX
Summary: Clay is badly hurt, Kimiko is trapped with no way out except for the cowboy, and as she waits, she begins to think. Another ClayKim oneshot...


**Pairing: ClayKim**

**Summary: Clay is badly hurt, Kimiko is trapped with no way out except for the cowboy, and as she waits, she begins to think.**

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How did this happen? Clay was still unconscious; Kimiko herself had only woken up ten minutes ago. There had been an accident that much she remembered. She knew that she hit her head; otherwise she would remember and not have a massive bump on the back of her head. She had thought about making a fire, but she was too scared to. What if the fire burned up all the oxygen, and without Clay or the fist of tebigon she had no way of escaping.

She tried to remember what happened. She remembered falling with Clay as the cliff collapsed, and tumbling into the very steep cave that they landed in. She remembered waking up and not so calmly figuring out where she was. After freaking out she realized Clay must have been with her, and went and searched for him. To say she had been worried would have been an understatement. Not only was Clay her only way out of the cave, seeing as the fist of tebigon was buried under the rocks.

Back to her current situation… She couldn't see, she was probably running out of oxygen, unless by some miracle there were gaps in the several yards of rocks that separated the fire dragon from the sky. She could see no solution except to wait for her favorite dragon and training to awaken. Resigning herself to wait, she sat down next to Clay. He was no longer wearing his hat, she had determined this out when she first found Clay. Not being able to stop herself she ran her fingers through his hair. It was silky smooth, and she knew that if there was light it would be shining like the sun she so longed to see.

She began to think, and like most girls, beginning to think could be scary. She thought about how the others must be looking for them by now. She thought about how things always went horribly wrong when the split up. She thought about how stupid it was of her to punch the cliff. Then she thought about earth, which brought her to Clay, which made her think of how worried she was of the cowboy. What if he didn't wake up? She didn't think she would be able to deal with the day to day wear 'n tear without him. Sure, Raimundo and Omi were great, but Rai was a jerk and Omi was so naïve it was annoying. Not Clay though, the cowboy was sweet and gentle, but strong and steady. Oh Clay… wake up soon…

She no longer wanted to get out of the cave; she just wanted her knight in shining armor to wake up. Knight in shining armor, it fit. He caught her when she fell and pulled her up when she was down. The more she thought about the biggest warrior, the more she realized how reliant she was on the cowboy, the more she _loved _him. Love… she liked the sound of that too, and after rolling it around in her mind for a bit, she deemed it to be true.

"I love Clay Bailey" She said outloud, just to see what it was like to speak the words that she found so sweet. She heard Clay moan, and jumped a bit away from him. Without knowing it she had moved closer to her new found crush and had been lying beside him. Her eyes were now adjusted to the dark, and she could just make out Clay's silhouette. After waiting a few more moments to make sure he wasn't about to awake she moved closer to him again. It was getting cold, she could only assume that the sun had set. At least she could claim need for warmth if Clay woke with her close to him.

Eventually sleep pulled her into its realm. Her dreams were full of sunshine, and an open field, and a cowboy. She walking around in the green grass when he came and greeted her with that perfect Texan accent of his. Then he did the most wonderful thing, he pulled her into an embrace. He was just about to kiss her when a loud boom broke her from the sleep.

"Sword of the storm! WIND!!!" Came a familiar and cute, but not quite as attractive accent from the other side. She could hear the rocks shift as the tornado pulled them away. As the rocks moved away from the cave's mouth precious light began to stream through. She moved away from Clay, rather unwillingly, and looked down at him. Kimiko wasn't sure if it was safe to move him, she didn't know what kind of injuries he sustained; only that he wasn't conscious. Finally Raimundo's efforts paid off and the rocks flew away from the entrance. She ran to hug them both, and finally, now that she no longer needed to be the strong one, started to cry. Raimundo stood there in shock, then scooped her up and placed her on Dojo before returning to help Omi move Clay.

* * *

Kimiko jolted up, she had fallen asleep on the trip home. "Clay!" She yelled, climbing out of bed and running next door. He was not there. She spun on her heel and ran down the hall, colliding with Raimundo.

"Slow down there, girl." Raimundo said grabbing her before she fell. "Where are you going so fast?" He asked, continuing to steady her.

"To find Clay" She replied pulling away "Where is he?"

"In the meditation hall" He replied. Kimiko slid past him and started running toward the meditation hall. That meant he still hadn't woken up. She couldn't help but blame herself, she had been stupid and impatient and this time it might cost her a friend's life. She made a hard turn and went barreling into the meditation room to see Clay lying on a cot, still unconscious. She let out a small gasp of air before pulling herself together. Kimiko dragged a stool over to the cot and sat down, putting her small hand in Clay's large one.

"I love you Clay, please wake up" The petite girl mutterered. Several tears leaked out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Then the floodgates broke once more. Tears started streaming down her face. A warm hand reached up and wiped them away.

"Why are you crying Littl' Lady?" came that voice she had so longed to hear. She looked up and saw a confused looking Texan, watching her every move.

"Clay! Your awake" she said happily, then, not being able to contain herself she leaned down and kissed him. "I love you"

"I love you too, Kimiko… I guess every cloud has silver lining" He said before propping himself up to give her another kiss. Kimiko giggled in a most un-Kimiko like way and leaned down to meet him.

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**YAY! More than 1,000 words, I'm so proud of myself.**


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